Bichette Has a Grand Time Against Expos

Dante Bichette loves to hit with the bases loaded.

Bichette hit a tie-breaking grand slam in the seventh inning and Larry Walker had a solo shot as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Montreal Expos, 6-2, Monday night at Denver.

Bichette, who was four for five with a homer and five RBIs on Sunday, broke a 2-2 tie with his 19th homer of the season and sixth grand slam of his career.

Bichette is hitting .600 (nine for 15) with the bases loaded this season.

“Driving in runs is what I love most,” he said. “I have a better approach and a better frame of mind with guys in scoring position. All I have to do is hit the ball hard and I feel I am successful.”

The grand slam helped Jamey Wright (7-10) win consecutive decisions for the third time this year. Wright allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings and helped himself at the plate by doubling and scoring a run.

Vladimir Guerrero homered for the Expos.

Montreal starter Carl Pavano allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. Reliever Anthony Telford (3-5), who gave up Bichette’s grand slam, took the loss.

Pavano singled in the third and scored when left fielder Bichette misplayed Wilton Guerrero’s line drive into an RBI double.

The Rockies tied it 1-1 in the bottom of the inning. Wright doubled with one out and Perez reached on a two-out bunt single, but Pavano overthrew first baseman Brad Fullmer, allowing Wright to score.

Walker hit his 16th homer leading off the sixth to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. Pavano avoided further damage by getting Kirt Manwaring to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.

Montreal tied it 2-2 in the seventh when Vladimir Guerrero hit his 26th homer of the season.

Houston 5, Milwaukee 2--Sean Berry hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth and Billy Wagner pitched a perfect ninth at Houston for his first save since being struck in the head by a line drive.

Berry, who was three for four, hit the first pitch thrown to him by Chad Fox (0-3) after Jeff Bagwell and Moises Alou singled.

Alou added a two-run homer and was part of a key defensive play as the Astros won their fourth in a row.

New York 4, St. Louis 2--Todd Hundley hit his first home run this season and Al Leiter pitched seven strong innings at St. Louis.

Leiter (11-4) helped silence Mark McGwire, who leads the majors with 46 home runs. McGwire struck out three times--twice against Leiter and once against Turk Wendell with a runner on in the eighth--as the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak ended.

Philadelphia 3, Arizona 0--Curt Schilling pitched a three-hitter in his major league-leading 11th complete game of the season as the visiting Phillies won.

Schilling (11-11) struck out five and walked one as the Phillies won for only the second time in 12 games. Schilling threw only 94 pitches in his second shutout of the year.